BISMARCK, N.D. — Workers have recovered thousands of litres of crude oil from an underground pipeline spill on North Dakota farmland, the owner of the line said Thursday, but it remains unclear when oil will again start flowing to refineries. Read More
556,000 litres of oil leaks onto farmland in North Dakota
556,000 litres of oil leaks onto farmland in North Dakota
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BISMARCK, N.D. — Workers have recovered thousands of litres of crude oil from an underground pipeline spill on North Dakota farmland, the owner of the line said Thursday, but it remains unclear when oil will again start flowing to refineries.
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South Bow is still investigating the cause of the spill Tuesday along the Keystone Pipeline near Fort Ransom, North Dakota, about 97 kilometres southwest of Fargo, the company said.
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The spill released an estimated 3,500 barrels, or more than 556,000 litres of oil, onto farmland. The company said 700 barrels, or more than 111,000 litres, have been recovered so far. More than 200 workers are on-site as part of the cleanup and investigation.
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South Bow has not set a timeline for restarting the 4,327-kilometre pipeline, which stretches from Alberta to refineries in Illinois, Oklahoma and Texas. The company said it “will only resume service with regulator approvals.”
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A map from the company shows the pipeline is shut down from Alberta to points in Illinois and a liquid tank terminal in Oklahoma. The line is open between Oklahoma and points on Texas’ Gulf Coast, according to the map.
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South Bow is working with the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration and the state Department of Environmental Quality.
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Continuous monitoring of air quality hasn’t indicated any adverse health or public concerns, South Bow said.
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The site remains busy, said Myron Hammer, a nearby landowner who farms the land affected by the spill. Workers have been bringing in mats to the field so equipment can access the site, and lots of equipment is being assembled, he said.
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The area has traffic checkpoints, and workers have been hauling gravel to maintain the roads, Hammer said.
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There is a cluster of homes in the area, and residents include retirees and people who work in nearby towns, he said. But the spill site is not in a heavily populated area, Hammer said.
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Pipeline leak pushes gas prices higher in U.S. Midwest
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The pipeline shutdown means that refineries that rely on crude oil will have three to four per cent less of the total flows in a daily market of 17 million to 20 million barrels, said Ramanan Krishnamoorti, vice-president for energy and innovation at the University of Houston.
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“It’s hard to see how you replace that into the stockpile that goes into these refineries,” he said. “Typically you have storage of crude in storage tanks and ships and everything. That might be a few days. But when you start to lose 3%, 4% of daily demand, it’s going to have impacts.”